The following disclosure relates to energy management, and more particularly to energy management of household consumer appliances, as well as other energy consuming devices and/or systems found in the home. The present disclosure finds particular application within a system which controls operation of consumer appliances, as well as other energy consuming devices and/or systems, and acts as a gateway between a Utility company network and the consumer appliances, as well as other energy consuming devices and/or systems. In some embodiments such a controller/gateway device is at times called a Home Energy Gateway (HEG).
Currently Utility companies commonly charge a flat rate for energy, but with the increasing cost of fuel prices and high energy usage during certain parts of the day, Utility companies have to buy more energy to supply customers during peak demand. Consequently, Utility companies are beginning to charge higher rates during peak demand. If peak demand can be lowered, then a potential cost savings can be achieved and the peak load that the Utility company has to accommodate is lessened.
General Electric Company has developed technology to improve the control of energy consumption within the home. Discussions of such developments have been set forth in a number of patent applications, including but not limited to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/304,712, filed Feb. 15, 2010, and titled Energy Management of Household Appliances and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/097,082 filed Sep. 15, 2008 (Now U.S. Ser. No. 12/559,703), titled Low Cost And Flexible Energy Management System. The disclosure in this present application builds on and extends the concepts set forth in these previously filed applications. U.S. Ser. No. 12/559,703 being fully incorporated by reference herein.
In particular, an issue addressed herein is the scheduling of the devices being controlled. For example, a thermostat may be used to control the heating and/or cooling of a home, pool, or many other devices. To increase the efficiency of energy use it is becoming common to schedule the operation of the thermostat to optimize heating and/or cooling, such as of the home but at the same time control the energy use. So in one instance such as in the winter the thermostat in the home may be scheduled to turn down the temperature in the home from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, while the owner of the home is away at work. Then in anticipation of the owner returning at 5:00 pm, the thermostat increases the heat to warm the house. A schedule to cool the home in the summer could similarly be used to control a cooling thermostat and/or an air cooling system controller.
Drawbacks to existing systems include that they are often hardwired, in the sense that to interface with the device, the owner must go to the thermostat and be physically present at the thermostat. Other systems have the host controller monitoring the environment and then when a change occurs, the host makes changes to the thermostat operation. A drawback to this arrangement is the need for constant monitoring of the thermostat, and if the host becomes disabled control is lost.